NEW ORLEANS, La. — Host Xavier University outscored Lee by 14 points at the free-throw line and handed the ninth-ranked Lady Flames a 59-48 defeat at “The Barn” on Monday evening.

The loss was the second in three contests for coach Marty Rowe’s 8-3 club. Xavier (10-2), ranked 17th in the latest NAIA poll, went to the charity stripe 34 times and converted 27. On the other hand, the Lady Flames struggled dearly, able to knock down only 13 of 26 attempts.

With points extremely hard to come by, neither team shot well from the field. The Gold Nuggets hit 32 percent, while Lee managed just 26 percent. Three-point shooting was almost non-existent for the Lady Flames as they converted only 19 percent of their attempts. Xavier did not make a shot from behind the arc the entire evening.

The Lady Flames did hold a narrow 42-41 rebounding edge but turned the basketball over 17 times to only 14 for the winner. The tough road adventures continue for Rowe’s team on Saturday. After returning to Cleveland for a couple of days, the Lady Flames will load up and head for Auburn Montgomery on Saturday afternoon.

Junior Kally Eldredge helped keep the Lady Flames in the contest by canning five 3-pointers and finishing the evening with 17 points. Brooke McKinnon was the only other Lee player in double figures with 10 points to go along with a game-leading nine rebounds. Freshman Karley Miller pulled down eight boards.

For the Gold Nuggets, Carmen Holcombe was best with 12 points. Keldra Hall tallied 10 points and garnered eight rebounds, while Jazmone Kelly pitched in with 10 markers.